Silverware container



. J. CUMMING SILVERWARE CONTAINER Sept. 22, 1970 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 12 lOe IO Filed Sept. 4, 1968 A S SI I20.

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INVENTOR. JOHN CUMMING M47 At tor-neys Sept. 22, 1970. J. CUMMING SILVERWARE CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Shet 2 Filed Sept. 4, 1968 O o 0.0 o

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INVENTOR. JOHN CUMMING BY 1 4. If, 1

Attorneys United States Patent U.S. Cl. 22069 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A utensil-holding container, having appropriate drainage holes therein, and of the type used preparatory to, during, and after the machine washing of utensils or silverware wherein an operative member is located within the container in the area coextensive with the medial portion of the maximum theoretical volume bounded by the container and thus removes this medial portion for possible use, but in so doing the operative member prevents crossing of the utensils in their stored position within the container and thereby actually increases the effective capacity of the container. The operative member or post is hollow and additionally accommodates an upstanding support post of an appropriate bulk storage and/ or transporting device.

The present invention relates generally to containers for silverware or utensils such as are used to hold the utensils preparatory to and during machine washing thereof, and more particularly to an improved utensil-holding container having an increased storage capacity as well as other noteworthy features. a

As generally understood, the washing of silverware, flatware and eating utensils, in general, is greatly facilitated by using containers for these utensils which are adapted to be placed in baskets or other carrying devices, set in a washing machine rack and put through the machine washing cycle during which the utensils are thoroughly washed, rinsed and sterilized. Moreover, follow ing this, the utensils if not dried during the machine cycle are permitted to air-dry within the containers, the water draining through appropriate drainage openings in the container, and the utensils still within the containers are then transported to appropriate end use locations, which may be a waiters station in a restaurant, or a restaurant or luncheonette serving counter or similar locations. The utensil-holding containers such as are now used consist simply of cylindrically shaped bodies having similarly shaped internal volumes for accommodating the utensils and, further, having a laterally extending lip or the like bounding the opening into the internal volume which is used to engage cooperating structure in a carrying basket so that plural containers are easily transported from one location to another. These known prior art containers are not entirely satsifactory since the initially placed utensils within the container have a tendency to assume positions preventing the placement of additional utensils therein and these utensils thereby interfere with making maximum use of the container volume, and the utensils also do not always assume a substantially upright position which has been found to be most desirable for effective cleaning thereof.

Broadly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved utensil-holding container overcoming the foregoing and other shortcomings of the prior art. Specifically, it is an object to provide an improved container of the type hereinbefore described which has an operative member projected into the medial portion of its utensil-holding volume and which member provides a more convenient means for interconnecting the container to supporting structure while not interfering with drain- "ice age flow through the drainage openings of the container, and wherein the presence of the member in this critical location within the container internal volume significantly increases the effective utensil-storage capacity of the container.

A combination cooperating support and a supported utensil-holding container demonstrating objects and advantages of the present invention includes a support having at least one upstanding support member, preferably of a conical shape, and a container, in a preferred embodiment, bounding a usual cylindrical internal volume but having a generally conical upstanding member in the medial portion thereof. This upstanding member has a hollow conical interior into which the support member is readily accommodated preparatory to interconnecting the container and support and additionally the member, by virtue of occupying the medial area of the container internal volume, constitutes an obstacle which effectively prevents any crossing of the utensils within the container internal volume and thus the utensils are held in a substantially vertical orientation and greater numbers thereof are effectively stored within the container.

The above brief description, as well as further objects, features and advantages of the present invention, will be more fully appreciated by reference to the following detailed description of a presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative embodiment in accordance with the present invention, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the utensil-holding container according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the container illustrating further structural features thereof;

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view similar to FIG. 1, taken in section on line 33 of FIG. 2 and including the support for the container;

FIG. 4 is a bottom plan view of the container; and

FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 are respectively plan, side and end elevational views of a portable support for plural containers.

Reference is now made to the drawings wherein there is shown a silverware or utensil-holding container, generally designated 10, of the general type used with mechanical dish-washing or sink washing of silverware. In a typical industrial application plural containers 10 are arranged to be carried in an appropriate carrying device such as illustrated in FIG. 5 and, in this condition, are set in a washing machine rack and put through the machine washing cycle such that the silverware or utensils held within the containers 10 are thoroughly washed, rinsed and sterilized. Following this, the containers 10 while still in the carrying device are transported to typical end-use locations, such as the waiters station in the restaurant, or a restaurant or luncheonette serving counter or similar locations.

The container 10 thereof, preferably a plastic injection molded article of manufacture, but also adapted to be made of formed metal, includes a body having a cylindrical side wall 10a and a bottom wall 101; which cooperate to define an internal storage compartment S for holding the silverware (not shown) during washing thereof. While compartment S has a theoretical maximum extent which consists of the cylindrical volume bounded by the inner surface of the side Wall 1001, for reasons which will soon be explained in detail, this total theoretical volume S is not not utilized for storing the silverware or utensils but rather a lesser volume S1 is utilized and this lesser volume has been found nevertheless to have a greater effective storage capacity.

In the illustrated embodiment of the container 10, there are conventional structural features such as plural spaced drainage openings 100 in the side Wall 10a and, as best shown in FIG. 2, an appropriate molded pattern in the bottom Wall 10b which provides drainage openings 10d. Completing the construction of the container 10 is a hollow centrally located operative member 12 molded integrally with the bottom wall 10a and extending therefrom into a position projected into the medial area of the internal chamber within the container 10. Member 12 is generally conical in shape and includes a tapered inner wall 12a bounding a generally conical volume of a size and extent to accommodate therein an upstanding support member 14, also conically shaped and of a complementary size or extent to be slidably projected within the conical volume 12a. Thus the member 14, which as shown in FIG. is only one of several which extend from a flat standing base 14a, functions as best shown in FIG. 3 to support a cooperating container placed thereon in a clearance position above the base 1411. Further, a group of containers 10 are adapted to be operatively arranged on the several supports 14 of the base 14a which is advantageously provided a carrying handle 14b, facilitating the transporting of the filled containers 10 to the washing machine and, after washing, to the end-use locations, all as already noted.

Returning again to the construction of each container 10, the operative member 12 in addition to providing cooperating interconnecting structure for the support 14, also includes a wall outer surface 1211 which cooperates with the facing surface of the side wall 10a to delineate from the maximum theoretical volume S a lesser volume, herein designated S1, which is the actual volume used for holding the utensils during a typical use of the container 10. Since member 12, in the illustrated embodiment is conical in shape, for manufacturing convenience the outer surface in a preferred embodiment is also conical, and thus the actual compartment S1 as defined by the Wall 10a and member 12 is toroidal in shape. It will be understood however that the member outer wall 12b could have a different shape than that illustrated in which case the compartment S1 would not be toroidal. Regardless of the specific shape of the compartment S1, the presence of the member 12 in the medial portion thereof has a significant result on the effective, usable capacity of the container 10. Specifically, it has been found that by virtue of the location of the member 12 that any utensil placed within the compartment S1 is constrained to assume an essentially vertical position or orientation and is thus prevented from assuming a crossing position through the medial area of the container 10 as, for example, would occur if the utensil rests at point A at the container upper opening 102 and at point B in the lower corner thereof at the juncture of the bottom wall 10b and side wall 10a. This is significant since it should be readily appreciated that in assuming such a crossing position, several such positioned or oriented utensils would effectively prevent the placement of any more utensils within the container 10 thus substantially diminishing the usable capacity of the container 10. On the other hand, even though the theoretical volume S has been diminished by the volume occupied by the member 12 and therefore consists of the lesser volume S1, the total extent of volume S1 is available for use because the crossing of utensils is, for practical purposes, minimized in the smaller volume S1. Thus, a utensil placed within the compartment S1 assumes, as already noted, an essentially vertical orientation and it is therefore possible to store a greater number of utensils therein than is possible in the larger volume S in which utensil crossing is prevalent.

A latitude of modification, change and substitution is intended in the foregoing disclosure and in some instances some features of the invention will be employed without a corresponding use of other features.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a cooperating support and a supported utensil-holding container of the type used preparatory to the washing of said utensils, said support including at least one upstanding support member of a prescribed shape, said utensil-holding container comprising a body including a bottom and side walls bounding an internal volume of a prescribed theoretical extent and having an upstanding, operative member extending upwardly from said bottom wall to substantially the top of said container in a position projected into the medial portion of said theoretical volume so as to delineate therefrom a lesser volume to serve as a storage compartment for said utensils, said operative member having a hollow interior of a shape complementary to the shape of said support member for supportingly interconnecting said support and utensil-holding container.

2. A combination support and utensil-holding container as defined in claim 1 wherein said cooperating interconnecting shapes are conical.

3. A combination support and utensil-holding container as defined in claim 2 wherein said utensil-holding container body bounds an internal volume and the operative member is conically shaped and cooperates to define between said body and member a storage compartment for said utensils.

4. A combination support and utensil-holding container as defined in claim 2 wherein said container side wall has plural water-drainage openings therein which are in a clearance position with respect to said support in said operative supported position of said utensil-holding container.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 827,124 7/1906 Speer. 1,966,247 7/ 1934 Janssen. 2,060,468 11/ 1936 Mitchell 22083 X 2,460,915 2/ 1949 Allen 220-21 X 2,893,591 7/1959 Barradas 220-69 3,107,028 10/ 1963 De Robertis 220-69 X 3,250,422 5/ 1966 Parish 22023.83

FOREIGN PATENTS 953,595 12/1956 Germany.

JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner J. R. GARRETT, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

